news 2012

UK, German and US scientists decipher complex genetic code to create new tools for breeders and researchers across the world. Scientists, including Keith Edwards and Gary Barker from the University of Bristol, have unlocked key components of the genetic code of one of the world's most important crops.

People are able to detect, within a split second, if a hurtful action they are witnessing is intentional or accidental, new research on the brain at the University of Chicago shows. The study is the first to explain how the brain is hard-wired to recognize when another person is being intentionally harmed.

One of the most promising innovations of nanotechnology has been the ability to perform rapid nanofabrication using nanometer-scale tips. Heating such tips can dramatically increase fabrication speeds, but high speed and high temperature have been known to blunt their atomically sharp points. Now, research conducted by a team that included the University of Pennsylvania's Robert Carpick and Tevis Jacobs has created a new type of nano-tip for thermal processing, which is made entirely made out of diamond.

As U.S. health care goes high tech, spurred by $20 billion in federal stimulus incentives, the widespread adoption of electronic medical records and related digital technologies is predicted to reduce errors, save time and lower costs. But it is also likely to significantly boost musculoskeletal injuries among doctors and nurses, concludes a Cornell ergonomics professor in two new papers.

FORT DAVIS, Texas — Astronomers have used the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at The University of Texas at Austin's McDonald Observatory to measure the mass of what may be the most massive black hole yet - 17 billion times our sun's mass - in galaxy NGC 1277. The unusual black hole makes up 14 percent of its galaxy's mass, rather than the usual 0.1 percent.

: Ken Walters / 412-268-1151 / walters1 [a] andrew.cmu (p) edu Shilo Rea / 412-268-6094 / shilo [a] cmu (p) edu PITTSBURGH-When perceiving they have more control over their personal information, people increase their willingness to disclose sensitive information that allows them to be personally identified, according to a study done by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University.

A new study indicates that large amounts of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), a sweetener found in national food supplies across the world, may be a contributory factor to the rising global epidemic of type 2 diabetes. The study by researchers from the University of Oxford and the University of Southern California reports that countries that use HFCS in their food supply had a 20 per cent higher prevalence of diabetes than countries that did not use HFCS.

Scientists have revealed the minutely detailed pain map of the hand that is contained within our brains, shedding light on how the brain makes us feel discomfort and potentially increasing our understanding of the processes involved in chronic pain. The map, uncovered by scientists at UCL, is the first to reveal how finely-tuned the brain is to pain.

An international team led by researchers from the University of Warwick and Oxford University is now dealing with unexpected results of an experiment with strongly heated graphite (up to 17,000 degrees Kelvin). The findings may pose a new problem for physicists working in laser-driven nuclear fusion and may also lead astrophysicists to revise our understanding of the life cycle of giant planets and stars.

A novel study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden suggests that commonly used drugs to treat heart failure and high blood pressure may have a wider range of application than earlier known, and also can be used against so called HFPEF - a type of heart failure that until now has been impossible to treat.

A simple formula can predict at birth a baby's likelihood of becoming obese in childhood, according to a study published today in the open access journal PLOS ONE . The formula, which is available as an online calculator , estimates the child's obesity risk based on its birth weight, the body mass index of the parents, the number of people in the household, the mother's professional status and whether she smoked during pregnancy.

University of Alberta researchers discovered that elk are more frequently and more easily disturbed by humans such as ATV drivers than by their natural predators like bears and wolves. The U of A researchers, led by biologist Simone Ciuti , spent 12 months in southwestern Alberta. The study involved elk herds made up of females and their offspring.

A new catalyst developed by a team led by Oxford University scientists could be the key to creating small, long-lasting fuel cells for powering mobile devices. The catalyst can directly convert methanol into hydrogen at the relatively low temperature of 150 degrees Celsius and, crucially, generates no detectable amount of carbon monoxide (CO) - a poison that damages fuel cells and gives them a short lifespan.

One of the most important health problems in the United States is the failure of patients with chronic diseases to take their medications and do all that is necessary to control their illnesses. In a study published in the current Journal of General Internal Medicine, UCLA researchers and their colleagues suggest that physicians take a serious look at tools and strategies used in behavioral economics and social psychology to help motivate their patients to assert better control over chronic diseases.

The hallmark of Parkinson's Disease is the uncertain gait and movement caused by the destructions of neurons producing the neurotransmitter dopamine. However, Parkinson's patients also display cognitive problems such as difficulty assessing an interval of time - for instance, differentiating between an eight-second span and one of 20 seconds.

In a new study published in the scientific journal Circulation, scientists at Karolinska Institutet and Karolinska University Hospital show that an enzyme called arginase might have a key part to play in the development of cardiovascular disease in patients who already have type II diabetes. According to the team, arginase prevents the formation of protective nitrogen oxide in the blood vessels, and treatments that inhibit this enzyme reduce the risk of angina in diabetics.

In older adults, antipsychotic drugs are commonly prescribed off-label for a number of disorders outside of their Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved indications - schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The largest number of antipsychotic prescriptions in older adults is for behavioral disturbances associated with dementia, some of which carry FDA warnings on prescription information for these drugs.

Several drugs companies have ineffectively tried to produce antibodies that bind to the IGF-1 receptor on the cell surface, which has a critical part to play in the development of cancer. Scientists at Karolinska Institutet have now ascertained how these antibodies work, and can explain why only some cancer patients are helped by IGF-1 blockers during clinical tests.

The charity Arthritis Research UK today launches the world's first research centre dedicated to understanding how and why arthritis affects teenagers. Researchers at the £2.5 million Centre, which is a collaboration between UCL, University College Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital, aim to understand why rheumatic diseases such as juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) or juvenile systemic lupus erythematosus (JSLE) can be more severe in teenagers and why specific types of arthritis are more likely to occur in this age group.

New MRI technique could help doctors track how patients respond to treatment. A new imaging technique developed at MIT offers the first glimpse of the degeneration of two brain structures affected by Parkinson's disease. The technique, which combines several types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), could allow doctors to better monitor patients' progression and track the effectiveness of potential new treatments, says Suzanne Corkin, MIT professor emerita of neuroscience and leader of the research team.